Abstract

FOURIE, Danelle. The individual in the gig society: Is the gig economy exploitative of the informal economy, or a means of empowerment?. Acta acad. (Bloemfontein, Online) [online]. 2023, vol.55, n.2, pp.154-169. ISSN 2415-0479.  http://dx.doi.org/10.38140/aa.v55i2.7725.

This article argues that the gig economy is an exploitative extension of the informal economy. With its decentralised promise of individual entrepreneurship, I will argue that it places undue burdens on the worker as an 'independent contractor' that would otherwise be upheld by the employer. I will do so by applying a Marcusian analysis of the gig economy, highlighting two primary concerns. First, Marcuse's critique of 'industrial rationality' explains how industrial rationality creates the framework for - and justification of - exploitation within the gig economy. Second, as Wendy Brown notes, following Marcuse, the gig economy promotes the neoliberal notion of 'self-care' as a means of absolving corporations from any duty towards their employees. More specifically, 'self-care' within the gig economy forms part of the exploitation of workers within the informal economy which is often viewed as a buffer to absorb the unemployed within a neoliberal society. Building on this critique, I refer to the work of Byung-Chul Han and his concept of 'self-exploitation,' arguing that the gig economy should be considered an extension of an informal economy, in which workers are left in a perpetual state of servitude.

Keywords : gig economy; neoliberal 'self-care'; entrepreneurship; informal economy; Herbert Marcuse; Wendy Brown.

        · text in English     · English ( pdf )